Assemblages of algae are altered by both bottom - up ( e.g. nutrient availability ) and top - down ( e.g. herbivory ) processes. As a result of the increasing human population in coastal areas, massive changes are forecast to benthic habitats in response to increasing coastal nutrient concentrations and a reduction in consumers. To identify the scales over which nutrients may have an effect, abundance of turf - forming algae growing as epiphytes on kelp ( Ecklonia radiata ) were related to water nutrient concentration across temperate Australia. In general, the percentage cover of epiphytes was greatest at sites with the greatest nutrient concentrations. By experimentally elevating mean nitrate concentration from the low 0.064 ± 0.01 µmol L [superscript - 1 ] to 0.121 ± 0.04 µmol L [superscript - 1 ], which was still only ~ 5 % of that measured on a more eutrophic coast, I was able to increase the percentage cover of epiphytes to match those seen on nutrient rich coasts, despite not matching the nutrient concentrations on those coasts. Hence, it appears that the effects of elevated nutrients will be disproportionately large on relatively oligotrophic coasts. Nutrient concentrations were also experimentally elevated to test whether the presence of an algal canopy or molluscan grazers were able to counter the effects of nutrient enrichment on algal assemblages. The loss of canopy - forming algae is likely to be a key precursor to nutrient driven changes of benthic habitats, because nutrients had no direct effect on algal assemblages in the presence of canopy - forming algae. In the absence of canopy - forming algae, space was quickly monopolised by turf - forming algae, but in the presence of elevated nutrients grazers were able to reduce the monopoly of turf - forming algae in favour of foliose algae. This switch in relative abundance of habitat may reflect greater consumption of nutrient rich turf - forming algae by grazers, possibly creating more space for other algae to colonise. Importantly, greater consumption of turf - forming algae in the presence of elevated nutrients may act as a mechanism to absorb the disproportionate effect of nutrients on oligotrophic coasts. In southern Australia, canopy - forming algae have a negative impact on the abundance of turf - forming algae. To assess the mechanisms by which an algal canopy may suppress turf - forming algae, abrasion by the canopy and water flow were experimentally reduced. Abrasion by the canopy reduced the percentage cover and biomass of turf - forming algae. In contrast to predictions, biomass and percentage cover of turf - forming algae were also reduced when water flow was reduced. Light intensity was substantially reduced when there was less water flow ( because of reduced movement in algal canopy ). However, the reduction in available light ( shading ) did not account for all of the observed reduction in biomass and percentage cover of turf - forming algae, suggesting that other factors are modified by water flow and may contribute to the loss of turf - forming algae. Habitat loss and fragmentation are well known to affect the diversity and abundance of fauna in habitat patches. I used experimental habitats to assess how fragmentation of turf habitats affects the diversity and abundance of two taxa of macroinvertebrates with different dispersal abilities. I established that increased isolation of habitats reduced the species richness and abundance of invertebrates with slow rates of dispersal, while the species richness and abundance of invertebrates with fast rates of dispersal were greatest in habitats that were far apart. In summary, this thesis provides an insight into some of the impacts associated with human populations in coastal areas, namely increased nutrient inputs, loss of grazers ( e.g. harvesting ), and loss of canopy algae and fragmentation of habitats. I show that increased nutrient concentrations in coastal waters can alter the relative abundance of algal species, and that some effects of elevated nutrients can be absorbed by the presence of grazers. I also show that elevated nutrients have no effect on algal assemblage in the presence of canopy - forming algae, and that canopies can suppress the colonisation of turf - forming algae. Finally, I show that the fragmentation of turf habitats affects taxa of invertebrates with different dispersal abilities in different ways. Whilst the contemporary ecology of much of the temperate Australian subtidal coast is considered to be relatively unaffected by human activity, this thesis shows that changes to top - down and bottom - up processes could have large consequences for habitats and their inhabitants. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 2005.

Abstract Lamu Island on the Kenyan coast is the home of a society with a thousand year history of contacts with other cultures through trade and shipping.  The loss of its traditional socio-economic base has led to the entry of tourism as the main income generating activity and the major contact with distant peoples. Tourism in Lamu is based on the old heritage in combination with a rich but sensitive tropical landscape.  One concern is how to develop tourism and at the same time preserve a certain set of landscape values. The thesis is based on observations and interviews with the host community in Lamu, focusing on how the local community conceptualize and adjust to the transformations in their envisaged and experienced landscape as a result of their involvement in tourism. Modern tourism ought to be closely linked to development in all respects and could be regarded as an important part of an open society which gives possibilities for interaction between people from different backgrounds. This investigation focus on the socio-cultural dimensions of sustainability and deals with the residents’ adaption to the new opportunities. The analysis show that the meeting with tourism gives certain effects in the social land-scape such as the accentuation of differences already existing in the society, the evolvement of a new moral landscape and the highlighting of the need of strategies to achieve sustainable development.

The research work addresses the changes that occurred in the valley and the Yungas of Cochabamba during the Inka Horizon (1400-1538 AC) while introducing in an exploratory way, the Late Intermediate (1100-1400 AC) and the Middle Horizon (400-1100 AC) periods. In theoretical terms, we emphasize the local human agency (individual and social) as important elements in order to understand the processes of social change. We assume that the complex relational webs generated by the Inka presence in the valleys and the Yungas appear as "traces" in the space (as constructed landscapes: social, agro-hydrological, sacral, administrative, war landscapes etc.) that can be seized from two sources, archaeological and historical, that are seen as complementing each other. We carried out two case studies in the Yungas of Tablas Monte and Inkachaca /Paracti. In both areas, previously unknown to Bolivian archaeology, we examined the impact of the Inka. Based upon material evidence, such as the sophisticated agro-hydrological system sustained by an intensive use of the stone as well as documentary data, we discuss the presence of warrior groups, i.e. that the arrival of the Inka had a relative impact in this area.

Decision support systems (DSS) that integrate long-term duck population and land use data are currently being used to develop conservation programs on the Canadian prairies. However, understanding inter-relationships between ducks and other grassland bird species would greatly enhance program planning and delivery among various bird conservation initiatives. Therefore, to achieve these goals, grassland bird species richness and relative abundance were compared between areas of low, moderate and high predicted waterfowl breeding densities (strata) in the southern Missouri Coteau, Saskatchewan. Roadside point counts were conducted during spring 2001 and 2002, and habitats were delineated within 400 m radius of each point. More birds of more species were encountered in the high density waterfowl stratum when compared with low but species that tended to co-occur with ducks were primarily wetland-associated. Overall, duck and other grassland bird species richness and abundance were moderately correlated (0.69 > r > 0.37, all Ps < 0.05); strong positive correlations between priority species of conservation concern and northern pintails were not found. No difference in mean number of priority grassland species occurred among strata, but differences were found for both number of species and total birds detected among routes within strata. High duck density stratum was more heterogeneous, consisting of greater areas of forage, shrub, wetlands, and open water bodies whereas low stratum contained larger, more uniformly-shaped habitat patches and greater proportion of cropland. Ordination analyses revealed that most priority species occurred in grassland-dominated sites with lower shrub area and wetland density whereas most wetland-associated species, including ducks and 2 priority species (Wilsons phalarope and marbled godwit) inhabited cultivated areas with higher wetland density. Ducks and priority species generally did not co-occur at the stop-level in highly heterogeneous landscapes but suitable habitats for both groups may exist in near proximity. In homogeneous landscapes, ducks and other wetland-associated common species were less abundant because of limited number of suitable wetlands. To achieve these dual goals, conservation efforts should be focused in areas containing wetlands adjacent to contiguous tracts of native pasture.

Decision support systems (DSS) that integrate long-term duck population and land use data are currently being used to develop conservation programs on the Canadian prairies. However, understanding inter-relationships between ducks and other grassland bird species would greatly enhance program planning and delivery among various bird conservation initiatives. Therefore, to achieve these goals, grassland bird species richness and relative abundance were compared between areas of low, moderate and high predicted waterfowl breeding densities (strata) in the southern Missouri Coteau, Saskatchewan. Roadside point counts were conducted during spring 2001 and 2002, and habitats were delineated within 400 m radius of each point. More birds of more species were encountered in the high density waterfowl stratum when compared with low but species that tended to co-occur with ducks were primarily wetland-associated. Overall, duck and other grassland bird species richness and abundance were moderately correlated (0.69 > r > 0.37, all Ps < 0.05); strong positive correlations between priority species of conservation concern and northern pintails were not found. No difference in mean number of priority grassland species occurred among strata, but differences were found for both number of species and total birds detected among routes within strata. High duck density stratum was more heterogeneous, consisting of greater areas of forage, shrub, wetlands, and open water bodies whereas low stratum contained larger, more uniformly-shaped habitat patches and greater proportion of cropland. Ordination analyses revealed that most priority species occurred in grassland-dominated sites with lower shrub area and wetland density whereas most wetland-associated species, including ducks and 2 priority species (Wilsons phalarope and marbled godwit) inhabited cultivated areas with higher wetland density. Ducks and priority species generally did not co-occur at the stop-level in highly heterogeneous landscapes but suitable habitats for both groups may exist in near proximity. In homogeneous landscapes, ducks and other wetland-associated common species were less abundant because of limited number of suitable wetlands. To achieve these dual goals, conservation efforts should be focused in areas containing wetlands adjacent to contiguous tracts of native pasture.

This thesis attempts to examine how fictionality in life writing and light writing forges a liberating space to read the self-making in Gerald Vizenor¡¦s Interior Landscape: Autobiographical Myths and Metaphors. The feasibility of setting a dialogue between life writing and light writing derives from Timothy Adam¡¦s discussion in Light Writing and Life Writing: Photography in Autobiography. Adams demonstrates how autobiography and photography, inherently thought as referential, actually possess the indeterminate characteristic of language; hence their juxtaposition displays an intriguing effect of dissolving the artificial distinction of the two media and their interplay presents the writer¡¦s fictive impulse of making himself. Chapter One provides a survey on how life writing and light writing can be productive media to present a self-making process. The residence in language of the two media deprives the presumed referential masks they wear and the constructed ideology disguised as truth behind, primarily the illusion of the unity of the self and the identification through lineage found in photographic representation. Chapter Two explores how the verbal narrative and visual images complete each other in Vizenor¡¦s Interior Landscapes. Photography in an autobiography forms an interesting dialectics between image and text: photography serves not only as a mnemonic device but as the material base for imagination and creation to thrive in words, and the autobiographical text rewrites what has been put in the photocopy of a historical document. Chapter Three discusses the trickster discourse that Vizenor incorporates in his life writing and light writing and analyzes how the writer associates his autobiographical self with trickster figures from the tribal myth and hence creates a trickster mixedblood identity. The dialogue between Vizenor¡¦s life writing and light writing reveals the possibility that both autobiography and photography could be not only the site of memory but also that of imagination and creation in self-life-making.

In this research, the settling history of a site called Bash&uuml / y&uuml / k will be studied. This site is a village where a group of immigrants settled with the instruction of Ottoman Empire on early 20th century after their immigration from Caucasus. The first part of this study will elaborate the foundation of this site as an Ottoman village with Caucasian settlers in Konya Province / with respect to many settling legislations and other immigrant villages of the era. The second part will be discussing and elaborating the fore coming spatial and social transformations of this village from its foundation through Turkish republic to this day. Finally on the last part of the study, the notions of preservation, restoration and possible future scenarios of this 102 years old village will be discussed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Understanding the place is an important step in cultural heritage management. Conservation Plan of James Kerr, which was derived from the principles of Burra Charter, pointed out that in preparing conservation plan for a heritage place, we should start from understanding the place. This includes gathering both documentary and physical evidences for coordination and analysis before assessing and stating the significance of the heritage place. This information will eventually become part of the conservation plan. Understanding is a process. It first involves the identification of the landscape assets of the place. Without the background information of the place, the formulation of any conservation plan may not be able to reflect the cultural significance of the place. Thus, all conservation works should start with understanding the place. King George V Memorial Park (the Park) located between Hospital Road and High Street at Sai Ying Pun of Hong Kong Island is a very special place in the western part of Hong Kong. The place where the Park is located, evolutes with the urban development at Sai Ying Pun and eventually becomes the major cultural landscape of the district. To understanding the Park, it is important to understand the historical development of the place and how it evolves into the Park. The original setting and context of the place can still be found on site. Investigation of these traits may reveal the historical importance of the place and lead to the understanding of the changing cultural landscape there. The layout and masonry walls of the Park exhibit certain trait of military structures. Through investigation, the wall was found to be the remnant of an important medical complex in early Hong Kong. The wall may help in reconstructing the early medical history and the development in the district and also the whole territory. However, the historical background of the site was fading out and only a few character-defining elements could still be traced. With the information available, it is suggest5ed to re-define the heritage significance of the Park. With a clear understanding on the historical facts and background of the sites, it is hoped that proper conservation programme may be formulated to address the need. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation